New bus seat belt law to impact SolTrans over time

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RACHEL RASKIN-ZRIHEN — TIMES-HERALD
A SolTrans bus that is likely too old to have passenger seat belts, but going forward, new buses will have seat belts for passengers as well as drivers and both will be obligated by law to use them.

Starting in July, passengers and drivers of buses like those SolTrans’ operates in Vallejo and Benicia, must wear seat belts or be fined.

However, the law only impacts buses that are equipped with seat belts and does not require transportation agencies to install them in their seat belt-less buses, SolTrans Program Analyst Bisi Ibrahim said Monday.

Senate Bill 20 by state Sen. Jerry Hill, (D-San Mateo,) mandates that anyone who violates this law pay a $20 fine. Subsequent violations will cost $50.

“The intent of the law is per vehicle, so, not all transit buses have seat belts,” Ibrahim said. “Concurrently, though, it requires that all new ones manufactured will have seat belts, so, as agencies get new buses, they will have to comply.”

Some SolTrans buses have seat belts, while most don’t, she said.

“Out of a fleet of 60, some 18 or 20 do,” Ibrahim said. This number will increase as aging buses are replaced.

SB20 will require a passenger who is 16 or older in a bus equipped with safety belts to be properly restrained, and would require a motor carrier to maintain those safety belts in good working order, according to the bill.

The bill would prohibit a parent, legal guardian, or chartering party from transporting on a bus that is equipped with safety belts, or permitting to be transported on a bus that is equipped with safety belts, a child, ward, or passenger who is 8 or older, but under 16, unless he or she is properly restrained by a safety belt.

The bill would exempt a passenger leaving his or her seat to use an on-board restroom.

The bill would also require a motor carrier operating a bus equipped with safety belts to either require the bus driver to inform passengers of the requirement to wear a seat belt or post signs or placards informing passengers of the requirement to wear a seat belt. A violation would be an infraction punishable by a fine of not more than $20 for a first offense and not more than $50 for each subsequent offense.

“Existing law requires a charter-party carrier of passengers engaged in charter bus transportation to ensure that drivers of certain vehicles provide each passenger with written or video instructions that include, among other things, the importance of wearing a seat belt, if available. A violation of this provision is an infraction,” the law reads. “This bill would instead require those written or video instructions to include, among other things, instructions on the requirement to wear a seat belt, if available, and the penalties for violating that requirement. By changing the definition of a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would specify that these provisions do not apply to a school bus or a school pupil activity bus, as defined.”

SolTrans has not worked out all the particulars, yet, but Ibrahim said all those details will be nailed down by the time the new law kicks in.

“We are very short-staffed and this is a very busy time of year,” she said. “But, plans will be put together. We are aware it needs to be addressed, and the public will be informed in due time.”

While SolTrans officials have yet to completely decode the new law, Ibrahim said she thinks the fines may be levied upon passengers for failing to wear a seat belt and on the agency for failing to make sure they do.

“We have to sort out all the issues, but it seems that enforcement is on us,” she said. “This is going on in all public transit agencies. We’ll understand it more going forward.”

With the Times-Herald since 1999, Rachel Raskin-Zrihen has been a reporter, writer and columnist for several print and online publications for nearly 30 years. She is the married mother of two grown sons and lives locally.